Masamichi Kogai was appointed president of Mazda on June 25 of this year, being in complete control of a company which he also guided as CEO right after the world financial crisis struck, from around the end of 2008.
Now occupying three positions simultaneously, including that of Representative Director, Kogai is optimistic about his brand’s sales performance, particularly in the US, in the short term, where he hopes the total figure will reach 400,000 units by the end of the 2015 fiscal year, on March 31, 2016.
The aim is to occupy a market share as large as 2.5 percent, getting it up from the current 1.9 percent slice recorded in October. The all-new 3 hatchback will bear the brunt of the sales, but the CX-5 crossover and the larger 6 sedan will also have to bring their contribution to achieving the set goals.
However, don’t go expecting dramatic discounts, as the newly-appointed CEO explained to Autonews: “I think the upper limit may be 2.5 percent for the time being,” making it very clear that “We don’t want to use a lot of incentives. That is not the sales approach we aspire toward.”
Firstly, though, Mazda wants to bring the number of units sold this fiscal year (through March 31, 2014) up to 300,000. That won’t necessarily be the hardest thing in the world, since he came in control of a company on the upswing, that was looking at its first annual profit in five years.
Kogai is aware that for the stated plans to work, he needs dealers’ support, as well as buyers’ faith. He told the publication: “We’ve asked our U.S. dealers and distributors to pick up the challenge of hitting 400,000 units,” adding that “It will be impacted considerably by the trend of the U.S. industry. But … it’s my hope we achieve the record by that time.”
By Andrei Nedelea
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